In the wake of the HIV epidemic, new and more virulent strains of hepatitis and other blood related diseases, health care workers have become increasingly aware of the potential for deadly consequences related to accidental or unintentional needle sticks or other contact with contaminated bodily fluids. As catheters and syringes are used in immense numbers in modern hospitals and other health care facilities, the opportunity for injury and resulting contamination is significant.
Various devices have been invented in an effort to prevent such injuries. U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,264 issued to Flowers in 1998 discloses a syringe equipped with a sliding tubular shield that slides over the exposed needle after use and locks in place. This shield is, however, open on the distal end, thus permitting fluids to leak from the needle and out the end of the shield. U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,309 issued to Hausser in 1994 is similar in design to the Flowers invention, however employing different means for locking the safety shield in the distal position. Like Flowers, it would appear to be nearly impossible to position this shield over the needle with one hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,887 issued to Brattesani in 1998 provides for a docking base to help protect the health care worker while attaching and removing the needle from the syringe device. This invention fails to provide a means to control leaks from the needle even though it is encased in a movable safety shield. Likewise, the movement of this shield cannot be easily controlled with one hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,555 issued to Hausser in 1995 is directed towards a syringe having a lockable safety shield slidably positionable over the needle after use. This device also requires two hands to operate and makes no provision for containing any fluid that may drip from the needle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,849 issued to Kalin in 1997 discloses a safety syringe having a slidable barrel that can be positioned over the needle to prevent unwanted injuries. The syringe is provided with a removable seal at the end of the barrel. However, once this seal is removed, there is no convenient way of reattaching the seal to the barrel and thus the potential for leakage remains. Of a slightly different nature, U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,282 issued to Hogan in 1987 relates to a sheath for use in removing hypodermic needles from patients and retaining the point of the removed needle in the sheath when the needle and sheath are disposed of so as to protect against accidentally being pricked.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a means to effectively shield the needle of a syringe or catheter after the device is removed from a patient, thereby preventing accidental needle sticks. It is a further objective of the invention to prevent leakage of fluids from the needle of the catheter or syringe after use. It is yet a further objective of the invention that the shielding capability can be operated with the hand that is operating the syringe or removing the catheter. It is still a further objective of the invention that the safety shield is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.